4-time world champion John Higgins hasn’t had the best preparation for the Crucible, having been knocked out early in the last few tournaments he’s played, prompting him to admit he’s considering retirement.
In his 30th appearance on the main draw of the World Championship, the Scot showed good form in the dispute with Jamie Jones, although the start of the match was not an ideal one. In the end, the “Wizard of Wishaw” prevailed 10-6 for a dream round of 16 showdown with Mark Allen.
Even if he will have one of the most difficult opponents possible on the way to the quarters, Higgins is looking forward to the duel with “The Pistol”, aware that a success against the Northern Irishman would give him “wings” for the final stages of the Crucible.
“I’m excited, Mark is maybe the best in the world right now. He has incredible quality, he is very difficult to play against and he is desperate to win the World Championship. We’ll see how they do, it’s going to be an interesting contest, they’re playing best 25, some games are over 3 days. It will be an extremely interesting matchup“, said Higgins on the Eurosport microphone.
Mark Allen, full of confidence ahead of the World Championship duel with Higgins
At 38 years old, Mark Allen is one of the most consistent players of the last 3 years, during this time he won 7 tournaments on points, including the UK Championship (the second title in the “Triple Crown”, after the 2018 Masters).
As such, the Northern Irishman settled comfortably into No. 3 in the world and at times even had a theoretical chance of overtaking Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump. Even so, at the World Championship he did not have very solid performances over time, reaching the “ace box” only twice (in 2010 and last year, when he lost dramatically to Mark Selby, 15-17 ).
Now, however, “The Pistol” feels in the form of life, and his statements are full of optimism. Not only does he have a complete game, but he is also very strong mentally, with psychologist Paul Gaffney completely changing his perception of snooker.
“I’m happy with where my game is. I’m happy where I’m at mentally, I prepared very well at the table, I’m also working with a psychologist, so things are very good.
That does not guarantee success, I have to prove at the snooker table why I am capable. I have been working with psychologist Paul Gaffney for two years now and he was the one who really opened my eyes to how mentally unprepared I was before.
He took me to the next level and right now I truly believe there is no one mentally stronger than me right now. I’m not here to become world champion, I’m aiming for more world champion titles, I want this to be just the starting point“, the Northern Irishman told metro.co.uk.
It should be noted that, before the first-round duel between Higgins and Jones ended, two of the parties in the eighths consumed their first session: Judd Trump, seen by some specialists as having the first chance at the title, leads Tom Ford by 6 -2, while David Gilbert has a two-frame lead against Robert Milkins (5-3).
8 top seeds were knocked out in the first round of the World Championship, with the biggest names to leave the tournament being reigning world champion Luca Brecel, four-time world champion Mark Selby and three-time Crucible winner Mark Williams. In only 3 editions of the WC it happened that so many favorites went home after the first round (1980, 1992 and 2012).
The highlights of the World Snooker Championship
- David Gilbert – Robert Milkins 5-3
- Stephen Maguire – Shaun Murphy
- Joe O’Connor – Kyren Wilson
- John Higgins – Mark Allen
- Judd Trump – Tom Ford 6-2
- Jak Jones – Si Jiahui
- Jack Lisowski – Stuart Bingham
- Ryan Day – Ronnie O’Sullivan
As long as there are no surprises, the quarters should look like this:
- David Gilbert – Shaun Murphy
- Kyren Wilson – Mark Allen
- Judd Trump – Si Jiahui
- Jack Lisowski – Ronnie O’Sullivan
Tags: full World Snooker Championship schedule Duel final phase
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